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| Three teachers kiss Daisy, a potbellied pig |
Sanville Elementary School physical education teacher Rachel Parks kisses Daisy, a potbellied pig from Connecticut, during a recent event at the school. Daisy and her owner, Paul Minor, travel the country to encourage children to read through a program called “Pig Out on Reading.” |
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Thursday, June 7, 2007
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Some teachers will do almost anything to get students interested in reading. For teachers at Sanville Elementary School, that even includes kissing a pig.
During a recent reading program at the school, three staff members kissed Daisy, a potbellied pig from Connecticut, as part of a contest designed to get students to attend the event and take part in a summer reading program.
School officials had said that if 100 students attended the May 29 event, they would kiss Daisy, said Jodie Rakes, Sanville’s reading specialist.
At least 90 Sanville students and dozens of others showed up, Rakes said.
“It was so close” to 100 “that we went ahead” and smooched the pig, she said.
With no single staff member wanting to “hog” the spotlight, three took turns kissing Daisy, including physical education teacher Rachel Parks, librarian Lori Morse and Rakes.
At best, kissing the 120-pound pig will inspire children to read. And, at the least, the teachers have kissed a prize pig: Daisy appeared on “The Montel Williams Show” in 2006.
The pig is owned by Paul Minor — better known as “Farmer Minor” — of Bristol, Conn. Minor’s program, called “Pig Out on Reading,” is a traveling show that features Minor and Daisy “hamming it up” across the United States to get youngsters interested in reading.
Minor, dressed in overalls and a “Farmer Minor” hat, brought a white rocking chair to Sanville and many of Daisy’s “favorite” books, such as “Babe,” “Olivia” and “Charlotte’s Web.”
During the event, younger children help read to Daisy while older kids tell a story about one of her favorite books. At the end of the program, students have the opportunity to pet Daisy and receive a pig stamp on their hands, the Web site states.
Minor and Daisy most often visit children, but they also present shows at senior centers, assisted living facilities, convalescent homes, churches and other places, it adds. |
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